The Wedding
by Zolton
Summary: It should be the happiest day of her life, if only it was the right man waiting for her.


**This just popped into my head when I was walking my dog.**

**Let me know what you all think!**

**Don't own anything!**

* * *

The Wedding

Rachel Berry was fifteen minutes away from walking down the aisle; she should be excited, walking on air, all the clichés that are usually associated with blushing brides. However she was certainly no blushing bride, she wasn't thinking about her fiancé, she was thinking of a lake and the man she should be with. The man she truly loved with all her heart. The man she belonged with. The man who understood her completely.

How had she gotten herself into the situation, where had it all gone wrong?

* * *

"_I still love you"_

"_Rach…I…I…I can't do this, I have to stay with her, with my family. It's breaking my heart but I just can't be like my father. I'm sorry, I love you too but I have to go."_

* * *

The words where playing on repeat as Rachel made her way to the church, sandwiched between her fathers, in the hideous car Finn had insisted they hire. They were chatting trying to keep the atmosphere light, trying to get their daughter to smile. They knew why she was acting like this, they had tried to reason with her, make her see that he wasn't right for her, neither of them were. Rachel concentrated on her breathing, she had excellent breath control, she was on Broadway, she was an actress, surely she could act happy on what should be the happiest day of her life.

Her mind replayed the first time they met at the lake, purely by accident. They were both seeking solitude, peace and a place to hide from reality.

_

* * *

_

_Rachel walked away from the hospital barely holding back the tears; he would never be hers now, never. She drove around not wanting to go back to an empty house, her fathers where away on business for two more weeks. The turn off for the lake approached and she quickly signalled and turned onto the bumpy track. She parked up and walked to the shore line standing staring at nothing as the rain started to pour. She never heard his truck arrive or him as he walked towards her shouting her name, until he was right beside her._

"_Berry what the fuck are you doing standing in the fucking rain?"_

"_Noah why aren't you at the hospital?"_

"_They're sleeping. I'll go back later; I just wanted someplace quite to think for a while. Why are you here?"_

"_Thinking"_

"_About?"_

"_The future, the past, everything."_

"_That's a fucking lot of shit to be thinking about in the rain. Let's go."_

"_Go where?"_

"_Somewhere fucking dry!"_

_Rachel turned, got back in her car and followed Puck as he drove to her house. She parked and walked into her house, leaving the door open as an invitation. By the time Puck had found her she was pouring vodka into a glass with ice._

"_Whoa Berry what you doin'? That's a lot of booze for a midget!"_

"_I need a drink, it'll help me think."_

"_It won't help, trust me I know."_

"_Why are you here Noah? You should be in the hospital with your baby and Quinn." _

"_Why did you leave the hospital? You didn't even hold Abby, not even for a minute. My kid not fucking good enough for you to hold Berry?"_

_Rachel looked into Puck's eyes, she could see he was hurt and confused. "I just couldn't hold her, it hurts too much." She starting drinking, not stopping until she was coughing from the burn._

_Puck moved around the kitchen till he was standing in front of her. "What do you mean it hurts?"_

"_It hurts here" Rachel pointed to her heart, "every time I see you with Quinn and I realise that I walked away from you."_

"_We wouldn't have worked out Berry, you're in love with Finn."_

"_I thought I was. I was wrong."_

"_Berry my daughter was born today, I have to be there for them, you know that right?"_

"_I think you should go Noah, forget I said anything."_

_He walked away, turning at the door to smile, "see you soon Berry."_

_Rachel topped up her drink and kept drinking until she couldn't feel the hurt anymore._

* * *

She smiled for the photographs. She was a professional. She was dying inside.

_

* * *

_

She had finally graduated from that hell hole, no more slushy facials, no more name calling, no more Noah. It seemed inevitable that they would meet again at the lake. They sat side by side not speaking, just being.

_He had been the first to move, turning to look her in the eye, tucking her hair behind her ear so she couldn't hide from his gaze._

"_What are you thinking about?"_

"_The future, the past, everything."_

"_Yeah, that's what you said to me a year ago. I think about that night everyday, what I should have done differently."_

"_No point dwelling on the past Noah."_

"_If I could go back in time I would have kissed you that night, told you how I really felt, how I feel."_

"_We can't go back in time Noah; we have to live with the choices we made. You have your family and I have Finn."_

"_You don't love Finn, you're settling for him."_

"_You don't know anything about us, nothing at all!"_

"_I know that you still love me Rachel, I can feel it, and I can see it."_

"_Noah, don't please."_

"_I'm in love with you Rach."_

"_You have Quinn and Abby, you don't have room in your heart for me as well."_

"_I don't love Quinn."_

"_Please don't Noah, I'm leaving in two weeks and you'll forget about me, it'll get easier I promise."_

"_I don't want to forget about you."_

"_You will."_

"_Stay with me tonight, just one night, please?"_

"_Noah I won't be your other woman, I deserve better than that."_

"_Rach she's the other woman not you."_

_He had kissed her then; it was a kiss full of passion, longing, regret, desire._

_They had spent one night together, one perfect night by the lake, until the dawn had brought clarity. He would go back to his family and she would leave for New York._

* * *

She stood with her fathers about to walk down the aisle, she didn't look at Finn, she couldn't. She scanned the church quickly, he wasn't there. She felt her heart break a little more, she hadn't thought that possible.

Had she thought he would be here, to stop the wedding? Perhaps.

Had she wished he would stop the wedding? Absolutely.

_

* * *

_

It was five years since she had last been at the lake, the only night she and Noah had shared. Her dream of Broadway was coming true, she had been cast in a play while still studying at Julliard, she had everything she had ever wanted, except for him. He had already been there when she arrived, standing in the exact same spot as all those years before.

"_Noah, what are you doing here?"_

"_I was just thinking about us."_

"_How have you been?"_

"_Just the same as I'll ever be Rach, keeping up appearances for the sake of my daughter."_

"_How is she?"_

"_Amazing, I love her so much."_

"_I always knew you'd be a wonderful father."_

"_I still think about you all the time."_

"_I think about you too."_

"_So why are you marrying Finn tomorrow?"_

"_The same reason you're still with Quinn."_

"_You're settling because you can't have they one thing you really want."_

"_I thought it would get easier being away from you."_

"_Me too."_

"_I still love you"_

"_Rach…I…I…I can't do this, I have to stay with her, with my family. It's breaking my heart but I just can't be like my father. I'm sorry, I love you too but I have to go."_

* * *

She had almost reached Finn; she can feel her chest tightening, hear her blood pulsing in her ears. She can't do this. It's not fair on Finn, it's not fair on her and it's not fair on Noah.

She stops.

Noah is there, he had been hidden from her view by some woman's ridiculous hat. Quinn is sitting beside him, staring at Finn and wiping away a tear.

Her fathers are looking at her, whispering things she can't hear.

It suddenly becomes clear. She looks at Finn, he knows what she's about to do. Maybe he's always known. Maybe he wanted the fairytale she had dreamt up in high school.

"I'm sorry Finn I can't marry you." Her only words as she turns and runs from the church.

* * *

It's still warm as she makes her way to the lake. She's never told anyone about this place so she knows she won't be disturbed. The only person who could know where she'll be in Noah and she is pretty sure he won't be looking for her. He made it clear last night his priority is his family, just as it should be.

She's making plans for the future, thankful that she still has her own apartment in New York. She'll leave in the morning, the quicker she gets back to work the better.

She hears his old beat up truck coming up the track but she doesn't know what to think. Is he coming here to tell her she's a fool? Tell her that he still can't be with her. Or maybe there is some hope.

Her hope dies when she sees Quinn get out of the truck.

"Quinn what are you doing here?"

"Letting you know that your little stunt didn't work."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you do. Did you really expect Puck to come after you? He has responsibilities and he's not about to run out on them for you. Stay away from him and our family."

Quinn turns around and walks back to the truck, accelerating away, back to Noah.

* * *

Rachel returns to New York and throws herself into her work. The more awards and adulation she receives the lonelier she feels.

She tries dating one of her co-stars but she spends her time comparing him to Noah so she ends it quickly, telling herself she only needs time.

On what should have been her first wedding anniversary there is a knock on the door.

"Noah, what are you doing here?"

"I can't pretend any longer, it's killing me, I've left Quinn. I still love you Rach."

"Oh Noah I still love you, but what about Abby?"

"She's a smart kid, she understands."

They spend their second night together with tender kisses and declarations of love and when the dawn comes they know they'll never be apart again.


End file.
